Nadia Phillips, a recent convert to the goddess cult that had started up in town, was walking home alone from work one evening.
It was a pleasant summer night. Balmy, with a wind blowing in her face that tickled. Her windswept hair blew back dramatically.
As nice as the evening was, she was having trouble enjoying it.
She had heard about the tragic murder of Martina Grisham, and bristled. All young women were being put on notice.
As if they didn't had enough to deal with already. Roe v Wade being gutted by the Supreme Court back in June was evidence enough that women were second class citizens in America.
And the world, if Nadia was being honest with herself.
She worried about the state of the world, wondering if this was the 1930s all over again. Authoritarianism was rising everywhere.
"Did I make a mistake in joining the cult?" she wondered.
What if nuclear war happened? She wouldn't die. She'd survive, but would she WANT to survive? Would she want to live dealing with cancer and radiation sickness in a barren wasteland?
She prayed that the goddesses Meiko and Brenda had an answer for that.
Shit, even ignoring nuclear war, would she want to live forever *period*?
Out of a dark alleyway, a stranger suddenly interrupted Nadia's existential crisis.
The angry looking white man grabbed her throat and pointed a gun at her, pressing her up against a brick wall.
Nadia's feet, lifted a few inches off the ground, were flailing.
"He's strong", Nadia thought fearfully.
The man appraised her with hate in his eyes, as if he were staring at something less than human.
"Young lady, you're coming with m-"
He suddenly felt an overwhelming electric shock course throughout his body.
The man didn't have time to shout or scream in pain. He didn't have the ability to do anything but realize the consequences of his mistake. He silently dropped Nadia back to the ground.
Nadia, catching her breath, playfully shook her finger at him.
"Don't do that again."
The man, still in pain, didn't respond to the tiny woman.
"And the same goes for the guy in the van!" she yelled as loudly as possible, turning her head, as she continued her walk home.
"How'd that bitch know I was here?" the man in the forest green van parked on the corner asked himself.
**
Brenda and Meiko were surprised by the number of men that were starting convert now, though they were delighted by it.
The number of guys that had converted in the first two weeks had been negligible, less than twenty, in fact, and it was still nothing to speak of really compared to the number of women who joined, but it was clearly accelerating a bit.
Some of the men were clearly just perverts who were salivating at the thought at becoming a hot immortal lesbian, and Shannon had to remind these horndogs that the changes were permanent and that there was no going back if they ended up regretting their decision. A few of these guys, realizing the consequences, chickened out. The brave ones, however, took the leap and joined their new sisters.
Other men however, were more excited by the idea of personal protection and greater autonomy.
You see, the goddesses had added some new perks to their salvation package.
Anyone who joined the cult would now not just become immortal gay women, but they'd gain special powers to protect them from predatory men(And women, and anyone else besides).
The murder of Martina Grisham had rattled the community, and had become national news. These new miracles were clearly a reaction to that.
The first power for anyone who joined would include a danger sense that would preemptively alert them if they or anyone in the immediate vicinity was at risk of something bad happening.
The second power was, if in the event that they *were* in danger from someone, say they were being abducted against their will, their body would instinctively release an overwhelming burst of electricity.
It sounded insane to most people at first, but when these powers ended up being the real mccoy, people flocked to their Weir residence.
Shannon recalled meeting a scrawny, short, nerdy teenage boy named Tom, sick of being bullied at his high school, who needed a way to protect himself. He didn't want to learn boxing or martial arts or any kind of self defense. He didn't want to hurt anyone, he just wanted to be left alone in peace.
One TG pill and one kiss by Shannon later, and the boy had been transformed into an adorkable blonde geek chick, a curvy petite lesbian who now called herself Tammy. Tammy, with her traffic stopping smile, delighted in realizing that she had her very own "Spidey Sense" now, and a way to protect herself from unwanted touching. She kissed Shannon and flounced off back home.
Inside, Meiko and Brenda smiled, holding hands.
"Your girlfriend really *is* a genius" Brenda said to Meiko.